The development of novel biomaterials, such as polymeric biomaterials, and their application to medical problems have dramatically improved the treatment of many diseases. For example, hydrophilic polymers, and their crosslinked forms, known as hydrogels, are a class of biomaterials that have potential for biological and medical applications such as delivery vehicles for therapeutics agents to a subject. Hydrogels are useful for biological applications because of their high water content and biocompatibility.